Johnathan Byrd is on a roll. He has won the last two PGA Tour tournament he has started in, both in playoffs. That is quite a turnaround, since he wasn’t even sure he’d keep his tour card at the end of the 2010 season. He punched his ticket to Kapalua and the Hyundai Tournament of Champions with an unbelievable win in Las Vegas by making a hole in one in a playoff to win at the end of 2010.

“I can’t sit here and not think about where I was toward the end of the season last year, fighting for my card. I’m just thankful, I’m overwhelmed, I’m grateful. All of the above.” ~Johnathn Byrd

Byrd entered a playoff with the tour’s longest hitter, Robert Garrigus. Garrigus missed a par putt on the 2nd playoff hole which would have extended the playoff to a 3rd hole.

Robert Garrigus takes 2nd

Garrigus

The fact that Robert Garrigus was even in that position, given the story of his journey to that point in his life, is also amazing. Garrigus had overcome substance abuse problems and gone through rehabilitation. To be that low in one’s life, then bounce back to such a high level on the PGA Tour is an amazing feat.

McDowell

Graeme McDowell was one of those players who I mentioned yesterday would need to shoot a serious lights-out score to contend. He did just that, tying the course record of 62 and bringing himself into the mix. Graeme had a birdie putt on 18 which wasn’t terribly long, which would have put him into the playoff as well, but that one did not fall.

Stricker

Steve Stricker made bogey on the 1st hole, which when combined with the birdie Byrd made on the same hole, put him two shots back right out of the gate. He couldn’t quite shoot a low enough score to win or get into the playoff, a two under 71. Still, I love watching Stricker’s great short game and his simple and beautiful mechanics.

Sony Open

This coming week the Tour stays in Hawaii for the Sony Open. This will be the first “full field” event of the season. Even John Daly is on his way down there to tee it up. At the Sony there always seems to be some interesting story relating to a player who was invited like Tad Fujikawa or Michelle Wie. I wonder what this year’s story will be? It will be fun to watch.

Final Hyundai Tournament of Champions Leaderboard

Round

Pos

Name

1

2

3

4

Playoff

Today

Total

Strokes

Purse

1

x-Jonathan Byrd

66

68

67

67

9

-6

-24

268

$1,120,000

2

Robert Garrigus

69

63

69

67

10

-6

-24

268

$635,000

3

Graeme McDowell

71

68

68

62

–

-11

-23

269

$412,000

T4

Carl Pettersson

66

67

71

68

–

-5

-20

272

$286,500

T4

Steve Stricker

69

67

65

71

–

-2

-20

272

$286,500

T6

Matt Kuchar

69

70

66

69

–

-4

-18

274

$201,500

T6

Ian Poulter

70

68

70

66

–

-7

-18

274

$201,500

8

Bill Haas

68

70

69

69

–

-4

-16

276

$182,000

T9

Jason Day

73

66

69

70

–

-3

-14

278

$162,000

T9

Jim Furyk

68

68

72

70

–

-3

-14

278

$162,000

T9

Dustin Johnson

71

66

73

68

–

-5

-14

278

$162,000

T12

Arjun Atwal

72

69

68

70

–

-3

-13

279

$132,000

T12

Bill Lunde

70

68

70

71

–

-2

-13

279

$132,000

T12

Justin Rose

75

67

69

68

–

-5

-13

279

$132,000

T15

Francesco Molinari

69

67

74

70

–

-3

-12

280

$10,700

T15

Ryan Palmer

70

72

68

70

–

-3

-12

280

$10,700

T17

Tim Clark

72

68

73

68

–

-5

-11

281

$87,000

T17

Ernie Els

72

64

74

71

–

-2

-11

281

$87,000

T19

Matt Bettencourt

73

70

70

69

–

-4

-10

282

$75,500

T19

Anthony Kim

69

71

74

68

–

-5

-10

282

$75,500

T21

Ben Crane

67

70

74

72

–

-1

-9

283

$71,000

T21

Adam Scott

73

67

70

73

–

E

-9

283

$71,000

T23

Cameron Beckman

72

71

70

71

–

-2

-8

284

$67,000

T23

Zach Johnson

71

73

69

71

–

-2

-8

284

$67,000

T25

Charley Hoffman

68

75

67

75

–

+2

-7

285

$62,000

T25

Hunter Mahan

70

70

78

67

–

-6

-7

285

$62,000

T25

Bubba Watson

70

70

73

72

–

-1

-7

285

$62,000

T28

Jason Bohn

72

72

72

70

–

-3

-6

286

$58,500

T28

Heath Slocum

70

74

72

70

–

-3

-6

286

$58,500

30

Stuart Appleby

69

75

73

72

–

-1

-3

289

$57,000

31

Rocco Mediate

79

70

75

71

–

-2

+3

295

$56,000

32

Derek Lamely

72

76

78

70

–

-3

+4

296

$55,000

DQ

Camilo Villegas

DQ

DQ

DQ

DQ

–

DQ

DQ

DQ

–

x- won playoff

3 responses to “The Byrd is the word – Johnathan Byrd wins in playoff at Kapalua”

The Byrd is the word…I think it’s his 4th or 5th victory on tour, a number greater than many of the up and coming stars like Mahan, DJ, etc. Byrd was dealing with a few things that prevented him from playing like he can but it looks like its behind him now.